UN warns of famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria - 20 million people at risk

The United Nations on Wednesday warned that more than 20 million people in conflict Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and the northeast of Nigeria, are at risk from famine. 

The warning marks the first time the UN Security Council will officially declared that the threat was directly linked to the armed conflicts raging in the afflicted areas.

The council in a presidential statement approved by all 15 members said that it deplored that some unnamed parties have blocked vital food and humanitarian aid to people in the four countries.

Council members stressed that conflicts and violence “have devastating humanitarian consequences … and are therefore a major cause of famine” in the four countries.

The 15-member body also requested the Secretary-General to provide an oral briefing in October 2017 on impediments to an effective response to the risk of famine in these countries, and make specific recommendations on how to address country-specific impediments in order to enable a more robust short- and long-term response. 

The Council emphasized, with deep concern, that ongoing conflicts and violence are “a major cause of famine” as they have devastating humanitarian consequences and hinder an effective humanitarian response in the short, medium and long term.

The Council reiterated its calls on all parties to allow the safe, timely and unhindered access for humanitarian assistance to all areas and to facilitate access for essential imports of food, fuel and medical supplies into each country, and their distribution throughout.

The Council further urged all parties to protect civilian infrastructure which is critical to the delivery of humanitarian aid in the affected countries.

The Council expressed its readiness to continue to support the Secretary-General’s call to action to avert famine in conflict-affected countries and commits to engage constructively on his specific recommendations.

Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest nation, has been engulfed in civil war since 2014. In Somalia, the weak government faces attacks by al-Shabab extremists linked to al-Qaida. South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, plunged into ethnic violence in December 2013 and a 2015 peace agreement has not stopped the fighting while Northeastern Nigeria has faced a seven-year uprising by the Islamic State-linked extremist group Boko Haram.